Murray's Jewellers wanted to be known for more than just fine jewellery- this slide (seen at the cinema) highlights their expertise in watches and clocks. The clock pictured was a popular mantlepiece design from the 1940s and 1950s, as is the ladies watch.  

A fine timepiece was an expensive purchase so when they wore out they were often repaired rather than replaced. MAVtech has cinema advertising slides from quite a few clock repairers which shows the demand for this service. 

If you look closely at the watch in the ad you'll notice that the hands are set near ten minutes past ten. Most ads for analogue watches show this time as it looks like a smiley face. Studies have shown that it makes people view the product more favourably- and it was first widely used in the 1950s! Was this ad one of the first in New Zealand to use this trick? You can find out more about the effect via the link below...

https://www.hodinkee.com/articles/science-says-1010-hands-in-watch-ads-are-a-subliminal-soft-sell

No details can be found at the time of writing about Murray's Jewellers but their address suggests they traded in Levin- as does the fact that this slide was found amongst others from the town. This is one of many slides MAVtech has from Murray's Jewellers so they must have either been very popular or wanted to be! 

This slide proclaims that Murray's were specialists in diamond rings- and another one of their slides (searchable on Kete) is advertising them.

According to a 1981 Jubilee Issue of the 'Horowhenua Chronicle', Lambles Ltd. had a shop on Oxford Street between 1960 and 1968, which looks to be the era of this slide. The house in the picture would have been very trendy in the 1960s with a large fireplace surrounded by interior brick.

Levin's Regent Theatre was also on Oxford Street, so it was just a short walk from the screening down to Lambles for the latest in carpet and furnishings! 

With cinema advertising slides appearing onscreen for only a few seconds, a bright bold design was essential! A witty pun was sometimes used to grab attention. This slide ticks all the boxes. 

A 'George Cooper' ran a hairdressing salon on Oxford Street and was advertising in the local paper in 1939. It is possible that this is the same business.  The hair style and hand colouring certainly looks to be from this era, but it is difficult to be sure.

This is one of multiple cinema advertising slides made for the Sharon Beauty Salon.

This local Levin business appears to have a long history. There is a record of it existing as early as the 1940s, run by a Mrs. Weir. In 1981 the business was still there (but there is no record of who owned it by that stage).This cinema advertising slide would have been screened during intermission- but only for a few seconds to avoid the projector's heat cracking the glass! In the era before television, going to the cinema was a frequent past time and if you paid extra to be seated upstairs in the 'dress circle' you generally dressed in nice clothes. What better audience to advertise hair tinting and razor cutting! Imagine this ad stretching over a cinema screen- now that would be impact.... 

This is the second slide from Rachelle Gowns, and they both seem to follow a seasonal theme. The first slide (searchable on Kete, just type in 'Rachelle Gowns' in the search bar) had an autumn theme- but the daffodils on this slide seem to symbolise a spring collection.

The New Zealand Companies Register shows that Rachelle Gowns was incorporated on the 26th of November, 1962 and was dissolved in 1990. Going to the cinema was a lot less formal in the 1960s than it was decades earlier- but you didn't want to be scruffy! 'God Save The Queen' still played before each screening and stayed that way until the end of the decade. Newsreels also gave the cinema a more formal atmosphere of education as well as entertainment.  That, and the overseas fashions in 1960s films would have made the cinema the perfect place to advertise. 

Rachelle Gown's slide would most likely have been screened during the end of intermission. Kete Horowhenua also has a 1981 print ad from this business which can be seen here https://horowhenua.kete.net.nz/item/7ca73eeb-f726-4eb7-bdaf-94015d0f92d8 

W. Stuart Donnelly was a stalwart of Foxton's medical services. He began his career in the town working for pharmacist  Thomas Crotty  before buying his business. For a time an optician called at his chemist shop once a week- the only optician service the town had. Kete records show Donnelly's shop on Foxton's Main Street from 1960-1970. Records do not  show where his shop was before that time (records show that Donnelly owned a shop in 1952). He also appears to have owned a pharmacy in Levin.

W. Stuart Donnelly was also the Mayor of Foxton Borough from 1972-1978. A photograph exists of him standing in his shop (this can be found on Kete by searching 'W. Stuart Donnelly').

But is wasn't all about prescriptions! This slide was advertising cosmetics. If this slide is to be believed, a green shade about the eyes would certainly let them 'dominate'.....

With the tagline 'A Lifetime Gift of Quality' this slide may well have been screened near Christmas. It, and slides just like it, were loaded into the projector near the end of intermission or (depending on the cinema) just before the film began. If left for more than a few seconds the heat from the projector's arc lamp would crack the slide. If you look just above the round watch face you can see a small crack on this slide. No doubt the cadet projectionist got a sound telling off about this!

The Levin branch of Parrington's advertised in the local paper in the 1950s (this slide would date to around then). There is no record of the Foxton branch on Kete's "Foxton 1888-1988 - Commerce". 

Cinema advertising slides promoted products, services, events and government messages- but advertising situations vacant is a much rarer sub-section of slides.

K. Hager and Co. Ltd made clothing- with a 1958 newspaper ad for new staff suggesting they specialised in shirts and blouses. At the time the company boasted fifty staff on the payroll in their Levin-based factory.

An online records search suggest that this company was established in 1956 and deregistered in 1993.

Te Papa has a collection of advertisements by K. Hager and Co. showing the latest 1970s styles. The firm doesn't exist anymore but they sure knew how to advertise to the flower power generation! You can see these ads by following this link.  https://collections.tepapa.govt.nz/agent/31790

This local Levin business appears to have a long history. There is a record of it existing as early as the 1940s, run by a Mrs. Weir. In 1981 the business was still there (but there is no record of who owned it by that stage).

This cinema advertising slide would have been screened during intermission- but only for a few seconds to avoid the projector's heat cracking the glass! In the era before television, going to the cinema was a frequent past time and if you paid extra to be seated upstairs in the 'dress circle' you generally dressed in nice clothes. What better audience to advertise cold waving, colour shampoos, hair tinting, razor cutting and facials! 

Imagine this ad stretching over a cinema screen- now that would be impact....

The passage of time changes how we view images from the past. At the time (probably the 1960s) the Levin Borough Council was encouraging residents to use their gas services. Councils managed the majority of New Zealand's gas supply until the 1989 local government reforms, with many managing electricity too.

In many respects this slide has not aged well. Asides from the sexism of 'Smart Women Cook With Gas' there is the somewhat awkward image of a lady dressed up for a social evening having a quick fry up on the gas stove! But it must have appeared 'natural' at the time.....

Although many cinema advertising slides were taken out by businesses, this form of promotion was also used by charities, clubs, government departments and the cinemas themselves. This one is part advertisement, part public service announcement. 

Every photograph is a window into the past- and sometimes what you see surprises you. Children singing a waiata about being kind to animals seems like a modern day school lesson, but the writing on this slide is from 1924! In the 1920s only a few private schools taught the grammer of Te Reo. Tragically, all the other schools saw speaking Te Reo as a caning offence. Was this slide of one of the private schools- or a smaller group or club? We just don't know.

Or maybe these children were located at Waiata Shores, near Auckland (although even then, few schools used Te Reo names for locations back in the 1920s).

Art historian Walter Benjamin coined a term called 'optical unconsciousness' and part of that is seeing a photograph in hindsight. The people in it do not know the future, but we do. Whatever this photograph depicted it seems like it belongs in our present than in it's past.

But the past is full of surprises!

The New Zealand Companies Register shows that Rachelle Gowns was incorporated on the 26th of November, 1962 and was dissolved in 1990. Judging by the clothing in the slide this ad seems to date from the 1960s. The lady is wrapped up warmly- perhaps the leaf design denotes an autumn collection?

Going to the cinema was a lot less formal in the 1960s than it was decades earlier- but you didn't want to be scruffy!  That, and the overseas fashions in 1960s films would have made the cinema the perfect place to advertise. Rachelle Gown's slide would most likely have been screened during the end of intermission.

Kete Horowhenua also has a 1981 print ad from this business which can be seen here https://horowhenua.kete.net.nz/item/7ca73eeb-f726-4eb7-bdaf-94015d0f92d8

This advertising slide is unusual as instead of advertising a product it is advertising situations vacant. Silvalyne Gowns was formed on the 19th of March, 1947. Prior to that date it was named R.H. Raphael Clothing Manufacturers Ltd.

What sadly was not common was the stated requirement that applicants be 'girls'- and at the time many trades and industrial training courses advertised positions for 'young men'.

Interestingly, the company was founded by a young man- Norman Alexander, an immigrant from Lebanon. He followed international trends after the Second World War by showing photographs of models rather than drawings. By 1953 he employed fourteen people and his retail shops continued until 1975.

This slide references his building in Dannevirke but Gordon also had a shop in Palmerston North. This slide was found in the Levin collection so it may have been shown in the Horowhenua- but it would have been a long commute to work! 

More information on the company can be found here https://www.nzfashionmuseum.org.nz/silvalyne-gowns/

Complete with a trendy hairstyle, a bevy of admirers and some sophisticated, soothing colour tones this slide encouraged the fashion conscious to get a haircut at Cooper Salon. The poses of the admirers in the background mimic many LP album covers of the period. 

Like most slides from it's era it was hand coloured- getting high quality colour prints was difficult in 1960s New Zealand! The upper right corner is cracked, probably due to being left in the projector for too long. The carbon-arc machines of the time ran at around 6000 degrees Celsius so each slide was only shown for a few seconds before being removed. This meant that most cinema advertising slides had bold designs like this one. 

No other online records of this business have been found at the time of uploading. Due to the low cost of cinema slides and their targeted audience (a local business only advertised in their town's cinemas) many small firms used 'the flicks' to promote themselves. 

This magazine was published at a very important time in New Zealand's entertainment history. Since it cost one shilling it must have come out before decimal currency (1967) but after the introduction of New Zealand TV (1960). At this time the cinema reigned supreme with the average person seeing around seventeen movies a year and around 30-40 million tickets being sold annually. However, with over quarter of a million sets by 1965 television was catching up.

This slide would have been shown during the intermission of a film encouraging people to buy the magazine in the foyer so they could read all about the latest entertainment.  It was a New Zealand publication so there would have been lots of local theatre productions in there too! One of many cinema advertising slides at MAVtech Museum, this one would have been shown at a local cinema.

Inscription on reverse reads: “Ronald J Law (Shannon), Josie Law (Mrs Aitchison), Nancy Adkin, Mrs Dora Law (nee Adkin), Mrs Maude Adkin, Clyde Adkin at Levin A & P Show at Levin racecourse, 1928

Members of the Law and Adkin families alongside a car at the Levin Show held at the Levin Racecourse 1928. Those in the photograph are from left to right:- Ronald J Law, Josie Law (later Mrs Aitchison), Nancy Adkin, Mrs Maude Adkin, Mrs Dora Law (nee Adkin), and Jeffrey Law.

Any use of this image must be accompanied by the credit “Horowhenua Historical Society Inc.”

Shannon School, 1975, school photo.

Back row - left to right:

Ricky Tetomo, Leslie Harper, Riki Waerea, ???, Richard Locke, Mario Anderson, Peter Bracken, Simon Campbell (?)

3rd row - left to right:

Stephen Hick (family was connected to Wahine Disaster), Paul McAleese, Richard Law, Tony Takarua, Warren Peach ( dad Teddy Peach ran the local butcher), ???, Brett Devine, Eddie Lamb

2nd row - left to right:

Selena Winiata, Cindy Hawkins, Jane Cunningham, Janine Nepia, Carmen Wills, Julie Foreman (daughter of long-time Librarian, Jenny Foreman), Raewyn McLeod, Cheryle Carmont

1st row - left to right:

Paula Moore, Maria Whiti, Alison Falkner, Christine Tyson, Mandy Cupples, Adrienne Vinsen (daughter of famous, memorable Shannon figure Bib and Mavis Vinsen)

​

Names provided by Carmen Wills, 15 December 2022.

​

Inscription on back: Mrs MacDonald with Flora’s love December 1902

Formal head to waist studio photograph of Flora McDonald. Wearing dark blouse with large ribbon bow over high necked undergarment. Hair down.

Any use of this image must be accompanied by the credit “Horowhenua Historical Society Inc.”

Inscription on back – Theresa Hinemoa McDonald

Full length childhood photo of Theresa Hinemoa McDonald,standing in garden wearing light coloured dress with long sleeves and pintucking on skirt, beading at neck, dark sash, dark stockings and boots. Hair down.

Any use of this image must be accompanied by the credit “Horowhenua Historical Society Inc.”

Colour photograph.

Photo taken at Read Family reunion in Sanson in October 1982 of Edward Joseph and Alice Maude Murphy and their extended family. Details on separate sheet attached. Those in photograph from left to right:-

Back row:- Sean Murphy, Derek Murphy, Donald Murphy, Peter Murphy

Middle row:- Patricia Murphy, Philip Murphy, James Murphy, Catherine Murphy, Heather Murphy

Front row:- Ryan Murphy, Phyllis Murphy, Edward Murphy, Steven Murphy, Paul Murphy, Cheryl Murphy, Roma Murphy, Andrew Murphy (on Roma’s knee), Arthur Murphy.

Also noted on enclosed sheet are how they are related and those that are absent.

Colour photograph.

Any use of this image must be accompanied by the credit “Foxton Historical Society”

Penciled on back - Social & Dance to mark the end of the primary school year for 84 FII pupils of Levin School. from left, Bronwyn Bakewell, Tony Waldron, Susan Booth, Mrs M. Bakewell. Fri. Dec. 11, 1970.

Stamped on back with black ink - Horowhenua Historical Society. Acc. No. 137 Date.

Social & Dance to mark the end of the primary school year for 84 Form 2 pupils of Levin School. 1 B&W photo print

Left to Right - Bronwyn Bakewell, Tony Waldron, Susan Booth, Mrs M. Bakewell.

Any use of this image must be accompanied by the credit “Horowhenua Historical Society Inc.”

Studio portrait of Doris Olive Hughes and Iris Ellen Hughes. Doris holds a bunch of cut flowers in her hand and is standing beside Iris who is sitting astride a rocking horse.

Any use of this image must be accompanied by the credit “Foxton Historical Society”

Penciled on back - Halloween function held by the Horowhenua Scottish Society and Highland Pipe Band. from left: Gail Wilkie (best Halloween costume). Douglas Waters (best original attire). Stewart Beissel (best authentic costume). Mon. Nov. 3, 1969.

Stamped on back with black ink - Photograph by : J. Cumming, Levin, N.Z. Negative No….....

Stamped on back with black ink - Horowhenua Historical Society. Acc. No. 137 Date.

Halloween function held by the Horowhenua Scottish Society and Highland Pipe Band. 1 B&W photo print

Left to Right - Gail Wilkie (best Halloween costume). Douglas Waters (best original attire). Stewart Beissel (best authentic costume).

Any use of this image must be accompanied by the credit “Horowhenua Historical Society Inc.”

Three sisters Diane, Kathy, and Pirihira are pictured here with the 'Platters'.The Warren Sisters were known for their harmonious voices. The sisters come from a family that was very musical, as most of their brothers and sisters played and sang in bands.

Penciled on back – Otaki

Written on back with blue ballpoint pen – Otaki 3c

Man & woman (unidentified) 1 B&W photo print

Man (left) wearing knitted wool cloak & dark glasses. Woman (right) wearing torn sack cloak & dark glasses.

Any use of this image must be accompanied by the credit “Horowhenua Historical Society Inc.”

names on reverse of photograph

Foxton Marching team in 1940s Those in the photograph are from left to right:-

Back Row:- Zoe Calder, Beverly Barron, Francis Corlett, Dorothy Jackson, Marge Haycock, Melva Reid.

Front Row:- Marge Podmore, Joan Goodwin, Evelyn Podmore, Melvie King.

The coach is Trevor Terry and the mascot is ? Johnston.

Any use of this image must be accompanied by the credit “Foxton Historical Society”

Penciled on back: “Shannon Family In front Mrs T. Brown nee Newton ? Mrs Jas Hallam”

An unidentified family group beside a river. Four girls are standing and sitting in the branches of a small tree. The woman sitting on the left, holding toddler on her lap, is believed to be Mrs T. Brown (nee Newton). The woman standing at the right of the group is believed to be Mrs James Hallam.

1 B&W photo print {Fragile, slightly damaged}

Any use of this image must be accompanied by the credit “Horowhenua Historical Society Inc.”

The Swans of Wahroonga

Elizabeth Swan and her children, 1975

David, Stephen, Bronwyn and Fiona.

Any use of this image must be accompanied by the credit “Horowhenua Historical Society Inc.”

Names for photograph taken from attached paper

People gathered at the diamond wedding celebrations of Mr and Mrs J F de Ridder. Those in the photograph include:- Bob Sorenson, Hettie de Ridder, Dick Hayes, Edward de Ridder, Mark Perreau, Amy Anderson, Caroline Sorenson, Ethil Robinson, Miss Clarke, Evelyn Jensen, Winnifred Neville, Lionel de Ridder, Mr Linklater, Merv Robinson, Flora Newson, Ken Robinson, Harold Jensen, Arthur Neville, Sid Jensen, Doug de Ridder.

Any use of this image must be accompanied by the credit “Foxton Historical Society”

Penciled on back - Miss Julie Wilson employee of Gilroy Hairstylists winner of the intermediate day style under 4 years section of hairdressing competitions at Wanganui. Thurs. Aug. 7, 1969.

Stamped on back with black ink - Horowhenua Historical Society. Acc. No. 137 Date.

Miss Wilson, a winner in hairdressing competitions, 1969 1 B&W photo print

Miss Julie Wilson, employee of Gilroy Hairstylists, winner of the intermediate day style (under 4 years section) during hairdressing competitions at Whanganui.

Any use of this image must be accompanied by the credit “Horowhenua Historical Society Inc.”